Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-24
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1ai11 Eao1e
LIFE TN VERA CRUZ.
DESCRIPTION OF MEXCO'S CHIEF
PORT ON THE GULF,
The Beach and the Streets-The Favor.
lite Architectural Color-A Walk at
Night-ChiIdren at PIay-The Market.
Various Other Sights.

ite Architectural Color-A Walk a
Night-ChiIdren at Playable Market
Various Other Sights.
The state of Vera Cruz is popularity ant
pleaslngly known as the Greece of Mexico
but the port Of Vera Cruz should by NJ
means be regarded as the Athens of this re
public, although its inhabitants might very
readily be termed Grecques in the cant accep
tation of the word. The beach is fairly
smooth, but dirty, and the shells which come
ashore are, a rule, small and Insignificant
although after northers handsome ones are
often washed ashore. The streets are cobble
stoned, with open sewers down the center
crossed by kennel shaped little bridges
always set a little above the corner. The
streets are fairly wide and straight, and
tolerably clean, not seldom grass grown. An
admirable system of street cars exists here, as
in most Mexican cities of any size. The
houses are mostly two story, with one occa-
Sionally lifted to something of three decker
dignity by virtue of an entresol.
The favorite architectural color is a lively
yellow, picked out with green, which i'm
parts whimsical air of ambition, taken in
conjunction with the timeworn and venera-
the general appearance suggests household
where the worn and faded carpet is patched
to degree, and the furniture furnished up
to preserve the semblance of gentility.
A feature which gives to the nocturnal
phases of Vera Cruz gay and attractive air
is the fashion of al fresco entertainment
One passes the hotels and cafes in the even
ing to find them deserted within, while the
xuid l,afoy he,
thickly lined with little tables and chairs, at
which sit hundreds of men slipping their
coffee or other after dinner beverages, chat
ting, gossiping, laughing. These portales
are really sort of exchange whittier one
turns TO find friend whom one may seek
after business hours 1t is said that the gen.
tlemen Of Vera Cruz do not take their coffee
at table Immediately after dinner, as is the
custom, not even when dining at home, but
rather postpone it until they stroll out to the
portales. Ladies are not seen here, howeve
In conformity with their social restrictions
in Mexico.
A charming walk, especially at night, is
to the promenade, which here corresponds to
the alameda of other Mexican towns-in the
district known as Extra-Muros, or Beyond
the Walls"-although no city walls now re-
calzada, or paved walk, between two rows on
either side Of tall and thick old cocoanut palms,
where one may walk while one hears the
waves breaking in surf against the seawaIl
close by; or the traveller may rest on the
succeed benches and dream of the history of
Vera Cruz in bygone days, under the white
CLEAN of the lighthouse,
At night one may see the children in the
&c ,.ln v,tI Leo
firehy-tied to Il string, and men go about
with net-covered baskets full of cocuyos-a
smaller variety-for sale. These insects are
also carried up to the City of Mexico, where,
on holiday occasions. one may see them on
the Zocalo, worn by both sexes. Ladies inn
prison them-sometimes a whole handful-in
the lace at the throat or on the head, and
men wear them on the coat, boutonnier-
fashion, by means of a hairpin straddled
across the narrow joining between the thorax
and abdomen, so that the phosphorescent
little creatures are not hurt, further than by
restraint
There are not very many strikingly char
acteristic street scenes in Vera Cruz The
negro population is pretty well assimilated,
and their attire is quite commonplace. Now
and then one has a touch of the metropolis,
seeing an old woman sitting on the curb,
with a mat before her, holding a choice col
lection of cigar stumps, gathered into little
heaps, SO many for a chico, as the coast
people call tie cuartilla or three cents of the
plateau.
1t gives squeamish sensation, too, to see a
pailful of devil fish; for the poulpe is largely
eaten, and is regarded as q great delicacy,
even in the capital. But a nastier, less appe-
thing matter it would be hard to find than
this disgusting animal So shapeless it is as
to be almost amorphous in its yielding-bone-
less want of consistency. But only think
what tremendous, what fatal power goes
into those inert and flaccid rays when they
close upon victim. And the shiny, slipping
wav it trails over the sides Of the receptacle,
and the livid, deathly color, like corruption
ITSELF Fauehi
The market of Vera Cruz is uninteresting
as to sight and ensemble, and not particularly
good Us to wares, even in the fish line. 1t is
said, and with some probability, that the best
fish is shipped TO the interior, as it used to be
in the days when-vide tradition-the choice
of the catch at Vera Cruz smoked on the table
in Montezuma's capital twentyfour hours
after it was taken from the sea.
About the only icomfOrt, extraordinarily,
about this place is the wine. 4 very good
dinner claret may be had for fifty cents the
bottle In some of the hotels the floors of
passages, etc, are of grating, like that in
tram cars, and for further cooinesS and ven
tilation the chambers are divided from the
corridors by a sort of balustrade partition,
inside OF which are folding panels, which can
be turned back at Will None of the hotels
have parlors, but the wide, cool corridors are
provided with sofas anu rockers, where one
may lounge or receive ones friends.
There is little TO be seen in Vera Cruz that
is of interest TO a stranger-the library, stu
ated as aforesaid in a former church, whose
tower is how lighthouse; an orphan asylum;
the yellow fever hospital, if ones pluck be
good; the Black Christ, and that is about all.
The charitable institutions are notable simply
for their systematic and effective manage
ment The Black Christ is an image in
chapel out bv the Extra Muros, and, while it
is somewhat tawny in color, it is by no means
SO Indicative of the native faith in Saviour
of their own color as another elfigy l saw at
Cuantla. which really was typical, not only
as to the much darker hue, but also III feature
and expresSon.-T. H Adds III San Fran
cisco Chronicle
A Watch should Last 100 Years.
"A first class watch should last for a hundred
yesrs, if properly taken care Of" said well